Abstract: The Tree City USA program, sponsored by The Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters, started in 1976, about 4000 urban and community forestry programs in thousands of towns and cities with about 100 million Americans were accredited. The standards of Tree City USA are comparatively simple and mainly composed of qualitative indexes, which emphasize ordinance establishment, publicity, longterm planning for urban forestry development, participation and coordination among functional departments of government, social organizations, nongovernment organizations and ordinary citizens. Tree City USA, supplemented with Tree City Growth Awards promotes sustainable development. Analyzing the criteria and appraisal process of Tree City USA, and concepts of urban forestry development will be helpful to establishing and rationalizing the criteria for National Forest City of China and ordinance of urban forestry development, promoting the ecological, efficient and sustainable development of urban forestry in China